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About Me

Welcome!
To me, there is nothing more precious than our family.
We are all connected in some way, like the branches of a tree. This site explores those branches, sharing family stories and information - both known and yet to be discovered - so we can meet the people behind the names and gain insights into our own lives. If you have questions or wish to share your own memories or photo about a family on this site, please leave a comment, or contact me.

Christmas 1927 brought a very special gift to my great-aunt and great-uncle, Benita and Phil McCormick.

These two little cherubs, "Buddy and Jane," or Phillip Eugene and Benita Jane McCormick, were named after their adoptive parents, Phillip Columbus and Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick. Chicago, Illinois, December 1927.

Make that two special gifts.

Unable to have children of their own, Benita and Phil adopted two infants, a boy and a girl. Given their adoptive parents' first names and the respective baptism (middle) names of their uncle Eugene McGinnis and grandmother Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis, Phillip Eugene and Benita Jane were nicknamed "Buddy" (later "Bud") and "Janie," names that stuck with them all their lives.

Adoption announcement card, designed by Benita (McGinnis) McCormick, whimsically depicts two young babes in diapers knocking on the door of theMcCormick home.

Though the blond, blue-eyed babies were referred to as "the twins," the newest little McCormicks may have been about the same age but in fact were not related by blood to each other at all. Bud was born on February 26, 1927, presumably in Illinois. Benita Jane, called "Janie," was born Shirley Ann Althaus on May 20, 1927, in Iowa, to a young German-American farm girl named Bernice Althaus.

Benita designed a whimsical adoption announcement heralding the new additions to the McCormick family. The pen and ink illustration on the card depicts two young babes in diapers, clutching small suitcases. Standing on a welcome mat, they rap confidently on the front door of their new home. The "8032" on the door was the street number of the family's residence at 8032 Vernon Avenue, on Chicago's South Side.

The idea of Benita and Phil ringing in the New Year by inviting friends and family to join them in welcoming two little cherubs into their world was typical of a couple who enjoyed celebrating life and loved ones.